Venting
by MysticFantasy
Summary: Steve feels like an idiot for getting pulled into the situation but he was going to make Clint pay for starting it.
1. Chapter 1

**Venting**

**By: MysticFantasy**

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Disclaimer: (_I own no part of this movie or the characters in it._)

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_I shouldn't have done it._ Steve thought to himself. _Why did I get myself into this situation?_

_"How you doing Captain?"_ a voice asked over the small black walkie-talkie.

Steve groaned as he reached to his belt and grabbed the small object. He pressed the button and answered the call.

"You do realize that I'm going to kill you for this later right?"

_"Torture, maybe. Kill, doubt it. You're Captain America. Captain America doesn't kill for fun."_

"You're seriously getting me to the point of proving you wrong about that Barton." Steve replied and was sure that Clint was laughing on his end.

With a sigh, the blond soldier continued to crawl foward. Intent on finding a way out of the large air vents he was crawling around in with Clint doing the same although in a different location. Most likely another level of the tower.

Somehow, Steve had spotted Clint crawl by an open air vent in the living room and questioned what he was doing and why. Clint answered that he was 'getting familiar with the territory' incase a situation during a mission called for him to crawl through air ducts.

The archer claimed that it was great excersize and helped him to figure out new tactics. He had right away asked the captain if he wanted to join him and they could compare notes later.

Steve had been hesitant at first, ready to turn the request down, when Clint said that it was like going through boot camp all over again and that Steve couldn't take it.

If there was one thing that suckered Steve into something it was when his military training was challenged. His training before and after becoming Captain America had been hell but he'd done it and he wasn't about to let Clint get away with the remark.

So now the two were crawling around the dark vents and having a little game of hide and seek with a twist. Unlike the traditional way of playing the game, the two were armed with small paintball guns.

When they spotted each other, shots would be fired. The person who landed the most hits would win but they could only be in each other's presence for fifteen seconds before going opposite ways and starting the search all over again.

_How do I get myself into these situations?_ Steve asked himself. _Clint knew I would prove him wrong when it comes to military training and tactics. I bet he planned this all along. Bet he couldn't get Natasha to crawl in the vents with him. Tony would never agree to something like this, Bruce wouldn't take the chance and Thor is bigger than me and would get stuck trying to move around in here. Doesn't help that I'm the only one here with real military training._

Steve turned a corner and spotted a vent a few feet away. He quietly made his way toward it and stopped short of it when he heard something coming from inside the room. It sounded like...humming.

Slowly, not making a sound, he inched his way over and looked through the metal slits. He spotted Natasha, sitting at the vanity in her room as she brushed her hair.

Feeling a knot form in his stomach from spying on a woman and fellow teammate, Steve was about to continue down the vent when Natasha stopped brushing her hair and pulled something out of one of the vanity drawers.

Steve could see that it was a picture of someone but he couldn't make it out because of the angle she was holding it. As if to help him figure out who the picture was of, Natasha turned a bit. Allowing Steve to see the picture perfectly. When he did, his jaw dropped.

The picture was of him! The picture was of him from the shoulders up and he had a bright smile on his face.

He remembered that picture. The press had been on him about various things, mostly about what it was like to be in a new century and what working with the Avengers was like, but the thing that had brought a smile to his face was seeing a little boy around six years of age wearing a mask like his and holding up a toy Captain America shield.

Honestly, Steve had thought people had forgotten about him after be'd crashed the Hydra plane. To see that people were looking up to him again was heartwarming and it gave him new hope that this new century wasn't so bad.

Steve was totally stunned when he saw Natasha smile at his picture. Almost in a 'loving' way.

"When are you ever going to notice?" she asked the picture softly as she ran a finger over his face. "How can you be so handsome and not notice when a woman has her eyes on you?"

Steve felt his face and ears grow hot and realized that he should leave the area. Backing up at quietly as he could, Steve turned and went the opposite direction. The heat in his face slowly began to fade.

After a few turns, Steve came to another vent. This time he heard two male voices. He crawled over and saw that he was looking into Tony's lab where the said man was at a table explaining some new gadget of his to Bruce who had a thoughtful look on his face as he stared at the new item.

"Hey guys." he called out and grinned when the two looked around looking for whoever called them but saw no one in sight. "Up here."

The two men looked over to the air vent and were confused when they saw the leader of their team in the vent.

"Barton talked you into it, didn't he?" Tony asked knowingly.

"He mocked my military training." Steve answered.

"That's no excuse to be acting like a child." Tony teased.

"Has Barton been by here?" Steve asked.

"He passed by a few minutes ago. Didn't stay to talk." Bruce answered. "Did he talk you into the paintball game?"

"Yep." Steve answered. "Well, I better get going."

"Be careful in there." Bruce called.

"If you get stuck I'm taking pictures." Tony added.

"Thank you Tony." Steve said sarcastically and was out of distance from the two.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**By: MysticFantasy**

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"Gonna kill him. I'm gonna kill him. I'm so gonna kill him." Steve muttered as he continued down the long vent that felt like it had been going on for a mile. With how big the tower was, he was sure that is was a mile long.

So far, nearly two hours had gone by and he hadn't had the slightest clue or hint of where Clint might be. He was starting to think that maybe Clint left the vents long ago and was waiting for Steve to figure it out.

_That's it. I quit._ the soldier thought to himself and decided to find the nearest vent to climb out.

He quickly wiped sweat from his brow when he suddenly heard a small _thump._ He froze and listened.

Thanks to his enhanced hearing, he would hear things from a farther distance than the others. The noise didn't seem like it came from very close by but it was close enough for him to hear.

Sure enough, Steve soon heard a pattern to the sound and realized that it was Clint crawling around close by.

Slowing his breathing, Steve listened carefully to try to figure out which direction the noise was coming from.

Left.

Being as quiet as he could be, Steve made his way in that direction and when he came to a split he stopped and listened again.

Left again.

The noise was getting louder and Steve made sure to stay as quiet as he possibly could.

"Where the hell is he?" came a whispered mutter.

Steve felt an evil smirk cross his face. Clint hadn't left the game after all and seemed to have gotten himself just as lost as Steve in the confusing ventalation system.

Feeling like a tiger on the hunt, Steve carefully manuvered himself toward the sounds Clint was probably unaware he was making.

Clint is, without a question, a great spy and could sneak up on just about anyone he wanted. Natasha was the only exception.

But thanks to his heightened senses, Steve was now one of two people Clint couldn't get by very easily.

The archer believed that he could prove that fact wrong but so far it hasn't happened. Mostly because he hasn't had chance to test it out.

The noises were so close that Steve was starting to feel trigger happy. He slowly looked around a corner and quickly ducked out of sight.

_Clint, I'm sorry but you are going to pay for talking me into this little game of yours._ Steve thought.

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Bruce, Tony and Natasha were sitting scattered in the main living room the team used. It was peacefully quiet for once and they were rather enjoying it.

But all good things never last.

_"Leave my a** alone!"_

The three snapped their heads up and looked at each other when they heard the yelling. Realizing it wasn't each other, they looked up toward the ceiling where they soon heard chaotic noises.

_"This is the last time I let you talk me into this!"_

_"Ow! My a**!"_

"Well, that's not disturbing." Tony said in a monotone voice with wide eyes as Bruce and Natasha continued to stare at the ceiling.

_"Get back here Barton!"_

The vent cover in the room suddenly fell to the floor and Clint basically flew out of the vent covered in multiple colors. Most of which were on his backside.

He landed on the floor with a grunt and scrambled to his feet. He then proceeded to run out of the room just as Steve came out of the vent and landed on his feet.

"I'd say Clint finally met his match." Bruce said noticing that Steve was free from any paintball markings.

"He deserved it." Steve said putting the paintball gun on the closest table top. "Had me crawling around in there for two hours."

"That's a lot less time that he's spent in there." Natasha said. "I think the longest I've seen Clint stay in the vents was about nine hours."

"Why would he do that?" Tony asked.

"He does it all the time at SHIELD when the newbies arrive. He loves to shoot water loaded arrows at them from the vents to see how well their guard is up. Fury didn't like it at first but realized that it was a good idea to see how prepared they are. Let's just say that a lot of them have to go through some serious basic training."

Tony laughed as he pictured the situation in his mind.

"Well, that little game was fun and all but I don't think I'm ever trying it again." Steve said.

"To be honest, I'm surprises you didn't get stuck in there." Tony said. "I was really hoping for some pictures."

"Sorry Stark, not this time." Steve said with a smirk as he started to leave the room.

"You'll slip eventually and when it happens I will be there." Tony declared.

"You're going to be waiting a long time for that to happen." Bruce said with a smirk.

"Don't remind me. Captain Perfection doesn't ever make mistakes." Tony muttered.

Natasha lightly chuckled at the two men before quietly leaving the room.

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Steve emerged from his bathroom dressed in grey sweats and a white shirt with his hands using a towel to dry his wet hair. He hadn't realized how sweaty he was until he finally got out of the vents.

He was just glad that the little game was done and he'd shown Clint that he himself was a good shot. He was sure that it was going to be a long time before the archer asked him to play another game like that again.

"I know you were spying on me."

Steve froze, towel still covering his head. He lowered the item away and noticed someone was sitting at his desk.

Natasha.

"I'm sorry?"

The female Avenger stood and made her way over to Steve. The super soldier didn't realize it but he had backed away from her until his back hit the wall and Natasha closed in on him.

He froze, hoping his appearance didn't betray the truth. He hoped that Natasha would chalk his nervousness to the fact that she was standing so close to him. They all knew how he was around women and it would usually lead to him getting teased at greatly.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You and Clint were running around in those vents all day and I heard you come up to mine and saw you in the reflection of my mirror. I thought you respected people's privacy."

"Well...you see...I, uh..." Steve stammered heavily then cut off when Natasha pressed her lips against his softly. His whole body tensed but realized he was kissing her back without thinking.

It didn't last long since Natasha pulled back and they were staring each other in the eyes.

"I know that you have experience with espeonage. With a little more practice, you could be as good as me." she said running her fingers through his damp hair. "That means that we are going to have to spend a lot of time together.

Steve lightly smirked.

"Yes ma'am."


End file.
